1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a laminated sealing member for closing the mouth of a container, the sealing member having a graspable tab on its upper surface to expedite its removal from the container, and the sealing member also having a holographic security seal layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the figures, the first digit of the reference numbers correspond to the figure number. The remaining two digits of the reference numbers for elements within the various figures that correspond to each other always match. Hence, the bottom hot melt adhesive layer, which is essentially same in all of the figures, is assigned the reference number 122 in FIG. 1, 222 in FIG. 2, 322 in FIG. 3, and 422 in FIG. 4.
It is often desirable to seal a bottle, jar, or other container having a screw-on cap by providing a sealing member that attaches across the mouth of the container before the cap is screwed down onto the container for the first time. When the cap is later removed after purchase, the purchaser must penetrate, break, or otherwise remove the sealing member before the contents of the container may be accessed. The cap may then be screwed back into place to keep the contents fresh and to keep the contents from spilling out. If the sealing member is not present when the container is first opened, or if it is damaged, then the purchaser knows that the contents of the container may have been tampered with. And as an anti-counterfeiting measure, such a sealing member may include a hologram visible to the purchaser after the cap is removed, the pattern of the hologram being a unique identifier of a particular manufacturer.
Many sealing members are known which have tabs attached to their upper surface to facilitate their removal. One simply grasps the tab and pulls it to one side, and the entire sealing member is removed from the container in a single motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,442, which issued to Michael P. Galda, et al. on May 7, 1996 discloses the sealing member 100 shown, in a side cross-sectional view, in FIG. 1 (which is derived from FIG. 4 of the '442 patent). (For clarity, the cross sectioning lines have been omitted from the layers 102, 104, and 110 in FIG. 1 and are shown in the urethane adhesive layers 114 and 116 and hot melt bonding material or adhesive layer 122.) The sealing member 100 is a laminated structure the lower half of which is formed from an aluminium foil layer 110 the underside of which is bonded to a hot melt bonding material or adhesive layer 122. The upper half of the sealing member 100 is formed from a sheet of bleached kraft paper 102 the lower half of which is glued to a polyester layer 104 (most likely a sheet or film of PET, or Polyethylene Terephthalate). As shown, the upper and lower halves of the sealing member 100 are joined by means of an adhesive layer 116 which extends only half way (left-to-center) and which joins the aluminium foil layer 110 to the polyester layer 104, leaving a gap 124 to the right. The sealing member 100 is circular and is die-cut from a much larger sheet of laminated materials, the cutting being positioned to cause the gap 124 to be present in each sealing member 100, thereby forming a removal tab that comprises the kraft paper 102 and the polyester 104 layer above the gap 124 to the right in FIG. 1. The '442 patent teaches that this circular sealing member 100 is inserted deep into a screw-on cap (not shown) which is then screwed onto a container (not shown). Induction heating applied to the neck of the container then heats up the aluminium foil layer 110, causing the hot melt bonding material or adhesive layer 122 to melt and thereby seal the sealing member 100 to the top of the container. After the container is purchased, the purchaser removes the cap and then grasps and pulls on the removal tab and thereby removes the sealing member 100 from the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,926, which issued to Joe Smelko et al on Mar. 15, 2005, teaches the design of an improved sealing member 200 which is shown, in a side cross-sectional view, in FIG. 2 ((which corresponds to FIG. 3 of the '926 patent). (For clarity, the cross-sectional lines have been omitted from the layers 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, and 212 in FIG. 2 and are shown in the urethane adhesive layers 218 and 220 and hot melt bonding material or adhesive layer 222.) The upper layers of the sealing member 200 comprise an upper PET layer 202 bonded to a lower EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) layer 204. The lower layers comprise an aluminium foil layer 210 which is bonded to a PET layer 212 which in turn is bonded to a hot melt bonding material or adhesive layer 322. This design adds a PE (polyethylene) foam layer 208 over the upper surface of the aluminium foil layer 210, as is illustrated in FIG. 2 (which corresponds to FIG. 3 of the '926 patent). The EVA layer 204 is heat bonded to the new PE foam layer 208 in the left half of the sealing member 200, as is shown. To the right, a release strip 206, made of PET, is coated on its underside with a silicon release coating to prevent the strip 406 from sticking to the PE foam layer 208. The PET release strip 206 and the PET upper layer 202 sandwich the left half of the EVA layer 204 to a release tab. The EVA layer 204 and the PE foam layer 208 are heat bonded together.
Several patents teach the incorporation of holographic film into various types of seals for packages and containers. Such holographic sealing members enable counterfeit products to be identified and also signal, by their condition when the seals have previously been tampered with.
Once such Holographic seal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,475, which issued to Ralph Kay, et al. on Jun. 7, 1994. This patent discloses a package sealing tape having a layered structure. Its upper layer is a removable layer formed from polypropylene or polyester film, smooth and transparent. This upper layer is loosely adhered (by means of wax or corona discharge treatment) to a much thinner, transparent polymer layer. The polymer layer is bonded to an embossable lacquer layer formed from non-cross-linkable polyurethane or polyester. This layer is embossed to define a hologram, and then a metallic film, such as aluminum, is deposited upon this layer and is optionally coated with a polymeric coating. The lowest layer is a pressure sensitive transfer adhesive bound to release paper. In use, the release paper is removed, and then the tape is used to seal a container. The upper layer is scuff resistant, so it may be left on during transit to protect the hologram. It may also be removed. In the face of solvents or heat, the embossable layer and its hologram is quickly and irreversibly damaged, thus making a permanent record of the attempt at tampering with the package. A similar arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,507, issued to Michael Banahan, et al. on Dec. 9, 2003, which also provides an additional fluorescent pattern visible only under ultraviolet light and a mechanism that breaks up the hologram if the layers are separated.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,012,032, which issued to Steven R. Consentino, et al. on Mar. 14, 2006, discloses in FIG. 3 of the '302 patent a holographic image (col. 7, lines 20-34 of the '032 patent) applied as the top layer in a laminated sealing member for a “bottle type container” with an upper PET layer, an intermediate thermal bonding polymer layer (a co polyester resin), and a lower woven or non-woven reinforcing scrim polymer layer (polyester such as PET) beneath which is an adhesive layer. In its “Background” portion, the '302 patent says: “seals and lids can be constructed to have a tab that extends outwardly from the periphery of the seal so that a user can grasp the tap to aid in removing the seal from the container.” ('032 patent, col. 1, lines 37-40) FIG. 3 of the '032 patent discloses a tab 33 that is somehow attached to, and extending outwards from, the periphery of the lowest adhesive layer. The text accompanying this figure says: “Preferably the seal contains a small tab to facilitate removal.” Nothing more is said about this tab.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,209, which issued to Jan L. Dorfman, et al. on Jan. 9, 1990, discloses a liquor bottle capping assembly which includes a sealing member that comprises two parts: First, a lower circular disk, made of aluminum or “high durometer plastic” or some other material sufficiently strong to resist and/or provide evidence of penetration by a hypodermic needle; and second, an upper circular sheet member 26 that is adhesively laminated to the lower circular disk 60. The upper circular sheet member may be made of metal foil and may carry a laser-imprinted hologram obtained from American Bank Note Holographics, Inc. Alternatively, the circular disk 80 may be constructed from plastic film, metallised plastic, or some other material that will provide evidence of any tampering. The upper circular sheet member initially has a figure-8 shape, and it is folded back upon itself to form joined upper and lower circular portions, the lower circular portion forming the circular sheet member itself, and the upper circular portion forming a removal tab of slightly smaller diameter, as is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the '209 patent.